|
derstanding so that we don't make the same mistake again.
At a retreat in America, Sayadaw was receiving treatment from a massage therapist. The massage therapist told Sayadaw to stay in the position that the therapist wanted. He asked him to relax his muscles. Sayadaw was tensing his muscles. Given this, it became awkward for the massage therapist to treat him. The therapist asked Sayadaw again to relax. Sayadaw kept tensing his muscles. It was difficult for the massage therapist to work. Then Sayadaw realized, "At this time, I have to listen to him. I have to do what he asks me. He said relax your muscles, so I have to relax." Finally the massage therapist could treat him as he wanted.
Sayadaw tends to talk about this mistake of his when admonishing yogis who are resistant and don't meditate according to his instructions. At this time the yogis come to understand and at last make effort to practice as instructed. Talking about what he had done to correct his own mistake as a lesson is very effective.
There is yet another mistake of Sayadaw's. When he was teaching the Dhamma as a meditation teacher at the Mahasi Sâsana Yeiktha in Yangon, Sayadaw mostly taught the novices, monks and male yogis. He only taught the female yogis for a few years. One time, there was a doctor among the male yogis meditating under Sayadaw's guidance. At that time, Sayadaw had a stomach ailment. So Sayadaw told the doctor-yogi about his illness. The doctor then said, "Bhante, for this stomach ailment one must be treated with an injection." Sayadaw made a not of this doctor's remark. Not long after that, Sayadaw went to see a doctor who was responsible for medical treatment at the center. At that time Sayadaw said to this doctor, "You need to give me an injection for this stomach ailment."
At this the doctor replied, "What did you say, Bhante?"
At this point Sayadaw immediately understood, "I've made a mistake." Sayadaw then said that he was just saying what the yogi-doctor had said. He wasn't trying to be a teacher.
Doctors don't like this kind of talk. The patient just needs to tell the doctor his or her symptoms. The patient doesn't need to, and shouldn't, say what medicine to give or what to do. It is the doctor's responsibility to prescribe the medicine or treatment after looking at the symptoms of the illness.
A meditation teacher is like a doctor and a yogi like a patient. The yogi just needs to tell the teacher what they have experienced in meditation. The teacher will look at the yogi's state and work from there. The yogi just has to explain how the object of awareness arose, how they noted it, and what they perceived. There's no need to say things such as, "Today my meditation was good. I t was bad. It progressed. It regressed. With good concentration, my wisdom increased. Today my meditation dropped off,"
|
|